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Singapore’s 15 most ideal employers, as voted by graduates

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Google has once again emerged as the most ideal employer for Singapore’s business and commerce, as well as engineering and natural sciences students. This was part of the findings from the Universum Talent Survey 2019, released today.

On the business/commerce front, Google was followed by J.P. Morgan, Singapore Airlines, and DBS. With Walt Disney Company rounding up the top five.

Singapore Airlines remained in 3rd place when it came to engineering/natural sciences students, with their second most ideal employer being A*STAR. Rounding up the top five for this group of students was Rolls-Royce and ST Engineering.

15 most ideal employers among business/commerce students in 2019

#1 Google
2018 rank: 1
Difference: 0

#2 J.P. Morgan
2018 rank: 4
Difference: +2

#3 Singapore Airlines
2018 rank: 2
Difference: -1

#4 DBS
2018 rank: 8
Difference: + 4

#5 Walt Disney Company
2018 rank: 3
Difference: -2

#6 Goldman Sachs
2018 rank: 13
Difference: +7

#7 PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers)
2018 rank: 7
Difference: 0

#8 Changi Airport Group
2018 rank: 5
Difference: -3

#9 EY (Ernst & Young)
2018 rank: 10
Difference: +1

#10 Apple
2018 rank: 11
Difference: 1

#11 KPMG
2018 rank: 6
Difference: -5

#12 Deloitte
2018 rank: 9
Difference: -3

#13 Unilever
2018 rank: 14
Difference: +1

#14 Facebook
2018 rank: 12
Difference-2

#15 Procter & Gamble (P&G)
2018 rank: 20
Difference: +5

15 most ideal employers among engineering/natural sciences students in 2019

#1 Google
2018 rank: 1
Difference: 0

#2 A*STAR
2018 rank: 2
Difference: 0

#3 Singapore Airlines
2018 rank: 3
Difference: 0

#4 Rolls-Royce
2018 rank: 6
Difference: +2

#5 ST Engineering
2018 rank: 9
Difference: +4

#6 GSK (GlaxoSmithKline)
2018 rank: 4
Difference: -2

#7 Changi Airport Group
2018 rank: 8
Difference: +1

#8 ExxonMobil
2018 rank: 7
Difference: -1

#9 Apple
2018 rank: 12
Difference: +3

#10 Ministry of Health (MOH)
2018 rank: 5
Difference: -5

#11 Defence Science & Technology Agency
2018 rank: 14
Difference: +3

#12 Microsoft
2018 rank: 15
Difference: +3

#13 Shell
2018 rank: 13
Difference: 0

#14 Boeing
2018 rank: 17
Difference: +3

#15 National Environment Agency (NEA)
2018 rank: 11
Difference: -4

Apart from ranking the most ideal employers, Universum’s survey uncovered key insights into career goals, salary expectations as well as choice of communication channel.

In terms of career goals, among both groups of students, having work-life balance remains the topmost career goal, followed by being stable in their job. While the engineering/natural sciences students ranked “to be dedicated to a cause or to feel that I am serving a greater good” as third, business/commerce students wanted “to be a leader or manager of people”

Click on the gallery below for the full set of career goals.

In terms of salary expectations, business/commerce students expected S$44,661 while engineering/natural sciences students expected S$44,459.

Interestingly, although rankings for IT employers were not provided, the survey found salary expectations among IT graduates (S$53, 721) to be significantly (20%) higher compared to both business/commerce and engineering/natural sciences students. This echoes the increased demand for a very low supply of technical and digital talent in Singapore.

When it comes to communication channel, both business/commerce and IT students indicated social media as the most important source of information for them. Engineering/natural sciences students, however, indicated that they learnt most about their employers through career fairs.

Mike Parsons, managing director APAC for Universum, said: “The demand for digital and IT talent in Singapore continues to increase. Not only does the survey highlight the pressure this is putting on salaries, this trend is pushing employers, especially non-traditional employers of digital talent, to be more strategic and segmented with what they offer and communicate. And the messaging is working too, shown by the way banks have risen to the second most preferred industry for IT talent ahead of more natural choices, such as E-commerce and tech hardware. The banks are back in a big way. Sadly, the same can’t be said for the public sector, who’ve had strong losses across the board and are losing their appeal amongst the current crop of graduates”.

Methodology

The results are based on the answers of 10,396 students studying for degrees in business/commerce, engineering, natural sciences, IT, humanities/liberal arts/education, law and health/medicine, with 40,325 individual evaluations of 138 employers.

Each respondent is asked questions about their career preferences, expectations and employment related drivers and then presented with a list of 138 national and international employers, nominated by the target group through an independent and structured nomination and assessment process, which prevents companies unfairly influencing their positions.

Respondents acknowledge those companies they would consider working for. Of the companies selected as ‘considered employers’, the respondents then select their five ‘IDEAL Employers’ and answer questions about their perceived brand based on Universum’s Drivers of Employer Attractiveness global framework. The rankings measure the level of employer attractiveness of companies or organisations on the recruitment market.